


Halloween

by mcmachine



Series: Happy Holidays [3]
Category: Grey's Anatomy
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Halloween, Holidays
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-30
Updated: 2018-04-30
Packaged: 2019-04-30 05:38:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14489997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcmachine/pseuds/mcmachine
Summary: Jackson and April celebrate their first Halloween as a married couple.





	Halloween

**_ JACKSON _ **

As childish as it may have been, Halloween was and always had been one of my favorite holidays.

Even if I had not quite realized it as a child, there was something all too freeing about no longer bearing the label of being an Avery. About for, even just a couple hours of a night, being able to forget about who I was and all of the responsibilities that came along with it.

Now that I'm an adult, it's not quite the same.

But I still love the holiday. Most of the time, it's an excuse to drink with the guys and pop a little more candy than what I usually would. With a body like mine, it doesn't make much of a difference, after all. But I knew that my plans for tonight would be different than heading over across the street to Joe's and knocking back a few cold ones with the guys. After all, April had been pretty enthusiastic about the holiday herself. Not in the same way, I knew it wasn't her favorite, but she liked to go overboard for just about any holiday that she could and she knew I enjoyed it.

For costumes, neither of us had bothered with anything big. We'd open the door for any kids that stopped by and I knew she'd gotten candy and a plastic pumpkin for it, but we both agreed that next year would be the year that we started with that. Once our kid was born.

I suspected that was why she hadn't wanted to go out to any kind of Halloween party, or with Grey's kids for trick or treating. The pregnancy had been taking a toll on her energy and getting through work was about all that she could do in the past week or so. I continued to tease her that it just meant we were going to have a big, healthy baby and she'd be feeling it kick any day now.

"Hey, baby," I called out to her as I walked in the front door of our apartment.

"Hi," I heard her call back out, presumably from the bedroom. "I'll be out in just a minute."

Dropping my keys and bag down near the door, I let her be. It's early enough in the evening but still cool. Trick or treaters were bound to be ringing the doorbell any minute now. I wasn't going to rush her along, though, opting to turn on the television.

A few minutes later, I finally hear footsteps coming down the hallway that had to be April's. I glanced over my shoulder, gaze finding her form immediately.

She was wearing a mustard yellow dress that went about halfway down her thighs with the addition of the baby bump that was peaking out these days. On top of it, she had a bright red crop top. From all of the baby items that we had been going through lately, it takes no time at all to recognize who she's supposed to be.

"Well hi there, Pooh Bear." I greeted her with a grin, walking over to kiss her.

April beamed up at me after the short kiss. "Hi, baby."

"You look very cute," I commented as I placed my hand on top of her stomach. My fingers spread across the bump, covering the majority of it with my hand. Even if it peeped out of her tiny form and looked small compared to her frame, it's still small enough.

"Is there any chance that I'm going to be able to get you in a Tigger onesie?" She questioned, raising her eyebrows up at me.

"Not a chance in Hell." I chuckled out. "Want me to go put on something else?"

"Yes, please." I saw that one coming. I figured she wasn't going to be happy for me to hand out candy to trick-or-treaters while wearing jeans and a Henley. Giving her another quick kiss on the lips, I moved past her and down toward the bedroom, sifting through the closet for a moment.

Admittedly, I hadn't gone shopping for anything. It hadn't really been much of a priority anymore. Most of my energy outside of work had been spent working on getting a nursery ready for the baby, wanting things to be done plenty early just in case. I didn't anticipate any problems with the pregnancy, of course – but admittedly, Sofia's traumatic entrance into the world had come to mind. I'd looked up to Mark like a father and knew that it had affected him. I wanted to be prepared for every possibility.

Pulling a Jersey off the hanger and some basketball shorts out of the drawer, it only took me a minute to actually get changed into them. It's a cliche, sure. But it'd be enough to get her off my back about it.

"Happy?" I prompted her as I walked back out with a raise of my eyebrows.

"Well, it's not Tigger." April teased with a shake of her head. "But I suppose it'll have to do for now."

"You're the only one I'm looking to impress." I reminded her with an easy chuckle passing through my lips. "And judging from that not-so-little bump of hers, I think that I've done a good job of it so far." I grinned.

She rolled her eyes and gas a slight shake of my head. I beamed at her for a moment before bending down onto one knee, pressing a kiss on the curve of her stomach.

Before either of us could make any further comment on the matter, though, there's a knock at the door that indicates our first round of trick-or-treaters had arrived. I grinned at her and get back up onto both feet, stepping back and moving out of her way.

April grabbed the plastic pumpkin filled with a variety of different mini candy bars, bounding over to the doorway. I stood back and watched her for a moment, the enthusiasm that she opened up the door with, the way her voice rose in pitch when she talked to the kids. They were elementary school aged, from the looks of them. Her voice was a little babyish, but that was okay.

She was going to be a great mother. Every time that I saw her interacting with kids, the affection that she cradled her own little bump, the way that she lit up whenever we went looking at things for the nursery… it was infectious, the absolute joy that lit her up every time. I didn't doubt how amazing she was going to be, not for a second. She had always been one of the best women that I knew. I knew that she would raise strong children, just like her, good children. Even if we didn't agree on every little detail of how we were raising the little one, I knew that they would be okay. That they would be good and happy because they had us. Because they had her.

Chatter is, of course, cut short by the very nature of children. Once they've got candy thrown in their bags, they're eager to get moving along to the next door, parents apologizing for their behavior.

By the little look on her face, the slight pinch between the bridge of her eyebrows and way that she put her hand on her stomach, I know exactly what she's about to say it.

"Don't say it," I commented with a shake of my head.

"Our baby is not going to be like that," April challenged with a raise of her eyebrows.

"I told you not to say it," I said but let out a chuckle. "Now you jinxed it. We're definitely going to have the kid who's running from door to door without so much as a thank you on Halloween."

Her hair tousled as she shook her head at me, placing her hands on my chest. I grabbed her hips after a moment, naturally pulling them in toward me until the curve of her stomach was pressed against my lower abdominals. I loved her body while she was pregnant. There was nod denying that.

"Shush," she disagreed. "We're going to have a perfectly well behaved little baby."

"A little Twix loving munchkin, just like his mom." I teased. With one hand, I reached past her toward the carrier of candy resting on the counter, trying to see if I could sneak something for myself. She caught me, of course, slapping away my hand gently.

"Do you know how hard it is to enjoy candy bars when you're allergic to peanuts?" She whined.

"Nope," I clucked my tongue. "Reese's cups, Mr. Goodbar, Snickers… mm." I trailed off, purse ply being just a little bit of a coy ass.

April made a noise of frustration. "You're being so mean. All I get is Twix and Milky Ways and plain chocolate. Plain chocolate is so boring."

"Starburst, Skittles, jelly beans… all that fruity, sweet stuff. You love that." I reminded her.

"Yeah, that's true," she sighed out. "Still. The sentiment is the same."

The majority of the night went on like that, a football game playing in the background and the two of us alternating a bit between who got the door or getting it together. Watching any interaction between her and kids was a real delight. It just made me even more excited for our child growing inside of her.

One of the good things about living in an apartment building is that there's not a ton of trick-or-treaters. They almost exclusively came and went in groups or families.

Around nine o'clock, the two of us call it quits. In other words, I grab the candy-filled pumpkin for myself and begin digging around in whats left of it. It's mostly mini Hershey and kisses at this point. I'm almost positive she's going to whine about that at some point.

April had plopped down on the sofa though I can tell that she's entirely bored with the football game playing on the television. Both of her hands were placed on her baby bump, rubbing it and mumbling something that I couldn't quite hear. All I could pick up on was the slight movements o her lips. She was almost always saying something to the baby. I quietly walk up behind her and the sofa, bending over it and slipping my hands to her shoulders.

"Do you want to watch something else?" I asked.

"Yes, please," April glanced up at me with wide eyes.

I chuckled, releasing her to walk around and grab the remote off of the coffee table. "Do you think I can twist your arm into watching a horror movie?"

"As long as there's no football involved," she replied without missing a beat, shifting her hips and patting the space on the couch next to her. I sit down immediately, letting her curl into me.

Pulling up Netflix on the television, I skimmed through some of the options before settling on an older movie – Children of the Corn. I knew that she didn't like anything too excessive or full of jump scares like most horror movies these days.

Yet despite it being a more mild choice, in my opinion, April still curled up beneath my arm for the entirety of the hour and a half that the movie played. Any other night and any other movie, I'm almost positive that she would have managed to fall asleep without even trying in this kind of position. She doesn't jump at the movie, even if she does make some pretty clear noises to let out what she thought. She had always been far from subtle.

"I don't understand the appeal of those movies," she muttered by the time that the ending credits rolled around, letting out a loud yawn in the process before snuggling up against me again.

"Stephen King is incredibly famous for a reason." I reminded her.

"I have nothing against him. I liked _Carrie_. And _The Stand_." April said, wrapping both of her arms around mine. "But, that's just… blah." She concluded. "He's a creepy guy."

"Says the woman who cuts in bodies for a living." I couldn't help but throw in the jab.

"So do you!" She retorted, slapping my thigh.

I let out a loud laugh, shaking the both of us. "I never said that I didn't," I gave her an easy shrug. "But I'm just saying, creepy is all relative. You know, some people might find what you do creepy."

"We save lives. Literally. No exaggerations." She stated pointedly. "That's not creepy."

"Relative, babe, relative." Another easy chuckle slipped past my lips.

April let out a loud groan before she finally detached herself from my side and got off the couch, stretching her arms out and overhead and letting out a loud yawn. I chuckled, turning off the television and slowly getting up to follow her to the bedroom.

We both changed out of our costumes and into pajamas. It's getting colder already even if it's not that late into fall so I put on a t-shirt alongside my pajama pants. April slipped into one of my t-shirts as well and a pair of pajama shorts that I already know have a stretchy waistband from the plenty of fooling around that we had done. I know her pajamas pretty well. Whether it comes to getting them off or working around them.

"There's my wife again," I grinned, bending down to give her a quick kiss on the lips.

"Too bad my husband is still a sports junkie. Jersey or not." April teased. I shook my head at her once more, stealing another little kiss and nibbling on her lower lip gently.

"Fortunately, he's also a junkie for his wife," I added, giving her a little wiggle of my eyebrows, hands falling to her hips. She guided me over to the bed and I follow without any hesitation. But I do let her get down on her own terms, knowing that she's a little fussy lately when it came to getting comfortable. I don't want to get in her way.

Once she was comfortably in place on her bed, I lowered down next to her, curling up against her backside and wrap an arm around her. My hand goes to the curve containing our child, rubbing it gently.

"There's my little man," I hummed, kissing the shell of her ear.

"Or a little girl," April commented, placing her hand on top of mine.

"Either way, my two favorite people, side by side." I grinned, letting out a content sigh. Daughter or son, this baby was going to be loved by the both of us like nothing else. That much I could be sure about.


End file.
